1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to information technology, and more particularly, to a server system and method for automatic storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) that allows the user to perform AS/RS controls and access related inventory management data.
2. Description of Related Art
An automatic storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) is an inventory control and management system that allows a company to carry out its inventory control and management tasks more efficiently through the use of computerized automation and information technology.
FIG. 1 shows the system architecture of a conventional AS/RS server system. As shown, this conventional AS/RS server system (as the part enclosed in the dashed box indicated by the reference numeral 100) is integrated to an automatic storage and retrieval system 10 to allow users (i.e., inventory management personnel) to perform AS/RS controls and access related inventory management data.
This conventional AS/RS server system 100 comprises: (a) a main server 110; (b) an SQL server 120; and (c) at least one control platform 130.
The main server 110 is linked directly to the AS/RS 10, and is used to monitor the operations of the AS/RS 10 and control the automatic storage and retrieval system 10 to perform user-issued commands. In addition, the main server 110 is used to store the current AS/RS operating status data into the SQL server 120.
The SQL server 120 is a database server that is compliant with the SQL (Structured Query Language) standard, and which is installed between the main server 110 and the control platform 130 to serve as a data exchange channel therebetween. In addition, the SQL server 120 is used to store the history of user-issued commands from the control platform 130 and all related AS/RS operating status data. Since the SQL standard is a widely-used and well-known standard in the information industry, no detailed description will be given here in this specification.
The control platform 130 is a personal computer unit, such as a desktop computer or a workstation, which is linked to the SQL server 120 to allow the user to operate the AS/RS 10 through the SQL server 120.
During operation, the control platform 130 is used to issue AS/RS control commands and related data to the SQL server 120, and these commands and data are then transferred by the SQL server 120 to the main server 110, causing the main server 110 to control the AS/RS 10 to operate in accordance with the user-issued commands. During this AS/RS operation, the control platform 130 will register all the related storage and retrieval data into the SQL server 120.
Moreover, in implementation, the conventional AS/RS server system 100 of FIG. 1 requires the installation of two ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) drivers, such as QEODBC drivers, respectively at the main server 110 and the control platform 130, so as to allow the main server 110 and the control platform 130 to be capable of exchanging data via the SQL server 120. The use of the ODBC drivers, however, has the following several drawbacks.
First, according to software authorization policy, one unit of QEODBC driver can be installed on only one single computer unit; and therefore, when the control platform 130 is installed in great numbers in the AS/RS server system 100, it requires the purchase of an equal number of units of QEODBC drivers, which would make the AS/RS server system 100 quite costly to implement.
Second, the QEODBC driver is quite complex in setup procedures and whose user interfaces are distributed in various different windows, which make it quite user-unfriendly to use.
Third, in order to allow the main server 110 and the control platform 130 to be capable of exchanging data, the QEODBC driver requires the provision of an AS/RS status register block in the hard disk (not shown) of the SQL server 120 for recording the current operating status of the AS/RS 10. However, since this AS/RS status register block is preset to be refreshed once in a second, it causes the hard disk of the SQL server 120 to undergo one read/write operation for a period of just one second, and this overly-frequent read/write operations would easily cause damage to the hard disk of the SQL server 120.
In addition, the installation of the SQL server 120 between the main server 110 and the control platform 130 would disallow real-time synchronization of data exchange between the main server 110 and the control platform 130; and therefore, the control platform 130 is unable to gain real-time acknowledgement and response of issued-commands to the AS/RS 10 so as to promptly learn the current operating status of the AS/RS 10. Moreover, since the main server 110 would perform intensive read/write operations on the SQL server 120, it would result in an excessive amount of data transmission loading between the main server 110 and the SQL server 120, causing the AS/RS server system 100 to have poor overall performance.